Major Supreme Court Cases

Supreme Court ruled that Congress had implied powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution to create the Second Bank of the United States and that the state of Maryland lacked the power to tax the Bank

• McCulloch v. Maryland,

• ​Marbury v. Madison,

• Dred Scott v. Sandford

• Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court ruled that Americans of African descent, whether free or slave, were not American citizens and could not sue in federal court. The Court also ruled that Congress lacked power to ban slavery in the U.S. territories. Finally, the Court declared that the rights of slaveowners were constitutionally protected by the Fifth Amendment because slaves were categorized as property.

• Plessy v. Ferguson

• Marbury v. Madison

• McCulloch v. Maryland

• Dred Scott v. Sandford

Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. ... As a result, restrictive Jim Crow legislation and separate public accommodations based on race became commonplace.

• Schenck v. United States

• Korematsu v. United States

• Plessy v. Ferguson

• Dred Scott v. Sandford

Supreme Court ruling established that Congress has more latitude in limiting speech in times of war than in peacetime and set out the clear and present danger test, in which Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. indicated that the most stringent interpretations of the First Amendment would not protect a person who causes public panic by shouting “Fire!” in a theater when no fire exists.

• Korematsu v. United States

• Schenck v. United States

• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

• Engel v. Vitale

The Supreme Court upheld the federal government’s powers to do so on the principle of “military necessity.”

• Korematsu v. United States

• ​Marbury v. Madison

• Schenck v. United States

• Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States

Landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality

• Miranda v. Arizona

• Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States

• Engel v. Vitale

• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

Landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools, due to violation of the First Amendment

• Engel v. Vitale

• Schenck v. United States

• Plessy v. Ferguson

• Korematsu v. United States

Landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States holding that the Commerce Clause gave the U.S. Congress power to force private businesses to abide by Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations.

• Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States

• Engel v. Vitale

• Miranda v. Arizona

• Roe v. Wade

Landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court ruled the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution restricts prosecutors must show that the person was informed of the right to consult with an attorney before and during questioning, and of the right against self-incrimination before police questioning, and that the defendant not only understood these rights, but voluntarily waived them.

• Korematsu v. United States

• Gregg v. Georgia

• Miranda v. Arizona

• Plessy v. Ferguson

Landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.

• Engel v. Vitale

• McCulloch v. Maryland

• Plessy v. Ferguson

• Roe v. Wade